I forgot to mention today’s epiphany from this morning’s travels through the woods. I was thinking about two recent biotech discoveries that occurred with help from UNC-Chapel Hill researchers. One was the Nobel-winning theory about how DNA booboos are fixed. It is being billed as helpful in finding a cure for cancer. Another pertains to work that might be able to cure Parkinson’s and other neural-degenerative diseases.
Both had something in common. In the first case, MutL slides along a strand and marks a booboo, changing shape so enough MutL’s and MutS’s will link to break the chain. In the second, genetically-modified white blood cells “home in on inflammation markers.” The moral of the story is, in solving problems, the human body starts with flagging the problem.
